iPhone is outdated, Blackberry head claims

Heins said that there is an increasing excitement towards non-Apple smartphones and the enthusiasm for Samsung's S4 signified this.

Heins said that, for him, Apple's role was to bring touch devices to market - not neccessarily true, but at least in a popular sense. "They did a fantastic job with the user interface, they are a design icon," Heins said. "There is a reason why they were so successful, and we actually have to admit this and respect that".

However, he went on to say that the rate of innovation in mobile is so high that if you're not constantly improving then you can "be replaced pretty quickly". Heins can be credited with giving the Blackberry a revamp, but this is somewhat ironic considering the lineage of the devices.

"The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about is now five years old," Heins said.

The exec claimed the new Blackberry phones are better than the iPhone i multitasking apps, of course, the same could be said for Android.

Meanwhile, instead of presenting a united front against Apple, HTC executives have been slamming the latest Samsung product, the S4. President Jason MacKenzie told CNET Samsung focused on marketing rather than genuine innovation.

Heins went on to say that he imagines there will be 100,000 apps ready for the company's Z10 launch this week. We will see: for now, he said the firm is "working constantly on getting these important apps on board".